SKETCHY LOCATION: Some Soho neighbors are up in arms because the city has displaced a public art space in little Petrosino Park with a bike-share station. Photo: Theodore Parisienne

Protests against Citi Bike moved into high gear yesterday.

Soho residents rallied at Petrosino Square, demanding the removal of a 43-cycle station that replaced a public art space in the tiny park in the square.

Dozens of people held signs and chanted, “Art, not bikes!” and “Art, not ads!” The hecklers also circulated a petition that contained more than 500 signatures.

“I cannot imagine in Paris, the city of art, the mayor allowing a bike share in front of the Louvre,” fumed Sean Sweeney, head of the Soho Alliance. “Mayor Bloomberg says he’s a patron of the arts. Why would he remove our art space?”

City Comptroller and mayoral candidate John Liu, a Citi Bikes member, railed against the location, too, saying, “I don’t oppose bike share, but let’s get it done right without taking things from other people.”

Georgette Fleischer, founder of Friends of Petrosino Square, has protested the bike rack for months.

“This is dedicated public parkland,” Fleischer said. “If they don’t do the right thing we’ll take legal action.”

The bike share is scheduled to roll tomorrow, with 6,000 bikes across 330 stations.

But since workers began installing the bicycle stations throughout the city last week, some people have begun using the racks for their own partisan purposes.

For example, The Post found at least two Citi Bikes sites in Downtown Brooklyn branded with “Dump [DA Charles] Hynes” stickers.